Postwar adjustment is easy for a young World War II veteran who is welcomed back to his job at U.S. Steel with a position, training courses, and counseling.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: U.S. Steel Co.
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: World War II: Postwar issues; Occupations: Steelworkers; World War II: Industrial production

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review
Downloaded 3,796 times Reviews
Average Rating:

Reviewer: Spuzz - - October 23, 2004
Subject: "Thanks for the Nazi Flag!"
Jim Robinson, young GI comes home with Nazi Loot for Dad (Dad gets a SS Helmet and a Nazi Flag!) and girlish stuff for the ladies (his young wife gets a scarf, ("Like it? It's Swell!")) and finds a job just waiting for him at the local United States Steel plant where plenty of well dressed (everyone comes in with a shirt and tie!) are just chipper to come to work!
While the USS can't make Melodrama properly, the one thing they can do, make steel, is quite spectacularly presented here, with the main focus on producing iron rods. From it's screaming hot snakey beginnings to it's cool rod finish, it's really an interesting process. Rather curious combination of melodrama and industrial film makes for an interesting film and worth a look.

Reviewer: cashel - - February 13, 2004
Subject: an excellent film
I think that all relevant information is given in the archive notes appended below. I am submitting this film because the problems and possible solutions are so TIMELY and apply to todays world

Shotlist

Jim Robbins, a young veteran, returns from the Army following World War II. He checks in at his former employer (U.S. Steel), where a friendly counselor makes it clear there will be a job for him, suggests training courses to bring his knowledge and skills up to speed, and in every way welcomes him back into what narrator George Hicks calls the "industrial family."

STORY OF JIM ROBBINS, A YOUNG VETERAN, WHO RETURNS TO HIS JOB AT U.S. STEEL CORP. AT CLOSE OF WAR, & HIS PART IN THE CORPORATION'S MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PEACETIME CONSTRUCTION & MODERNIZATION PROGRAM. STEEL SHORTAGE, PRODUCTION & ECONOMICS.

This film is filled with many fascinating vignettes of the workplace and postwar economic situation, and is a little less sanitized than the average industrial. What makes Unfinished Business most fascinating, though, is that it's an expression of two corporate objectives that seem largely to have vanished from the scene today: (1) maintaining a kind of "social contract," a guarantee of lifetime employment for loyal workers which also had the effect of stabilizing the national economy; and (2) explaining and justifying corporate objectives not just to stockholders but to the nation at large.
Unfinished Business was produced in two different versions. The one in this program was longer and intended for employees and stockholders. Another, trimmed down to ten minutes, was made to play in commercial theaters as a short subject, and reached millions of members of the public.


U.S. STEEL INDUSTRY METALS VETERANS WORLD WAR II POSTWAR SHORTAGES HISTORY PRODUCTION INCOME FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ECONOMICS MONEY FAMILIES FACTORIES POSTWAR AMERICA HOMECOMINGS KISSES WIVES MOTHERS HUSBANDS LOVE AFFECTION HUGS WAR SOUVENIRS EMPLOYMENT OFFICES HIRING RECONVERSION
<BR>